Now that the confetti has fallen on one side and the tears have flowed on the other, it’s time to close ranks again.
Set aside during these partisan months leading up to the election, is the very real pile of problems our newly elected, and reelected officials now have before them.
We don’t doubt that the men and women who have stood for office this time around did so with the best of intentions, but the best of intentions by themselves doesn’t do anything to address this unwieldy mess of a school consolidation plan, a jail consolidation plan that still threatens to take away the Two Bridges Regional Jail while leaving Lincoln and Sagadahoc residents with the bill, and a chief executive determined to reshape the state to his liking without bothering to include any of the affected parties in the discussion.
We support making changes where improvements can be made, but change for its own sake isn’t change, it’s damage. We charge our local state representatives to rein in this top down administration before it does any more harm to rural areas of the state, such as Lincoln County.
Face it, the basic response of the current state administration to everything is to either lie (see repealed beverage tax, last minute passage of), fudge the numbers (LD.1, Dirigo) or just stick it to the local taxpayers and let the towns figure out how best to squeeze the turnip (see school subsidies, lack of).
Don’t forget Dirigo is still on the books. Maine’s insurance rates are still some of the highest in the country and the overwhelming majority of the 130,000 Mainers who were uninsured before the state committed $180 million on their behalf, are still uninsured.
It is easy to stand on the stump and talk about cutting taxes, doing away with partisanship, and creating bi-partisan coalitions, but the rubber is about to meet the road.
Maine and the nation have been crying out for leadership, true leadership for years. Now is the time to provide it.
